On January 15, 2008 Federal Law No.275-FZ “On entering amendments into articles 5 and 7 of the Federal Law “On combating legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and financing of terrorism” comes into force.
In accordance with this Law article 7 of the Federal Law “On combating legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and financing of terrorism” is supplemented with clause 1.3, which imposes a number of obligations connected with control of the sources of monetary funds and operations of foreign public officials, as well as of their relatives, on organizations carrying out operations with monetary funds and other assets. In particular, organizations carrying out operations with monetary funds or other assets shall be obliged to:
1. adopt reasonable steps and possible in the circumstances measures on identification, among physical persons serviced or when establishing business relations, of foreign public officials;
2. establish business relations with foreign public officials only upon written approval of the head of the organization carrying out operations with monetary funds or other assets, or his deputy;
3. take reasonable and possible in the circumstances measures to establish the source of the monetary funds or other assets of foreign public officials;
4. update on the permanent basis the information, possessed by organization carrying out operations with monetary funds or other assets, on the foreign public officials serviced by them;
5. pay higher attention to the operations with monetary funds or other assets performed by foreign public officials, their spouses, close relatives (direct relatives (parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren), full blood and half-blood (having common father or mother) brothers and sisters, the adopters and the adopted) or on behalf of those persons.
Due to coming requests and in order to form a unified approach to determination of the circle of persons covered by provisions of clause 1.3 of article 7 of Federal Law dated August 7, 2001 No. 115-FZ “On combating legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and financing of terrorism” (with changes according to Federal Law No. 275-FZ dated November 28, 2007) Rosfinmonitoring considers it necessary to be guided by the definition given in the item of article 2 of UN Convention against Corruption dated October 31, 2003 (ratified by Federal Law No. 40 dated March 8, 2006) when deciding whether or not to rate one or another person as “foreign public official”.
In accordance with the said norm “foreign public official” shall mean any person holding a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial office of a foreign country, whether appointed or elected; and any person exercising a public function for a foreign country, including for a public agency or public enterprise”.
In line with part 4 of article 15 of Constitution of the Russian Federation international treaties of the Russian federation, including UN Convention against Corruption, shall be an element of its judicial system, due to this fact its norms shall be considered as norms of direct action.
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